Rest assured, drinking coffee is not linked to the onset or worsening of heart disease according to researchers from the American College of Cardiology. Coffee consumption – two to three cups a day – may even protect your heart and extend your lifespan, whether or not you have heart disease.
“Because coffee can make your heart beat faster, some people worry that drinking it could trigger or worsen certain heart problems. This is where general medical advice to stop drinking coffee can come from. But our data suggests that daily coffee consumption should not be discouraged, but rather included as part of a healthy diet for people with and without heart disease.“, commented Peter M. Kistler, lead author of the study.
In order to arrive at their findings, the researchers used data from the UK Biobank, a large-scale database containing health information from more than 500,000 people followed for at least 10 years. They analyzed the link between the number of cups drunk per day – ranging from one to six cups – and heart rhythm problems, cardiovascular disease (including coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke) and death total and cardiac in people with or without cardiovascular disease.
10 to 15% less risk of developing coronary artery disease
The first study involved 382,535 people, with no known heart disease at the start of the study. The researchers wanted to see if the consumption had any bearing on the onset of heart disease during the 10 years of follow-up. And in general, drinking two to three cups of coffee a day is associated with the greatest benefit: it would reduce by 10 to 15% the risks of developing coronary artery disease, a heart rhythm problem or dying from any reason.
In a second study, researchers analyzed data from 34,279 people who had some form of cardiovascular disease at the start of the 10-year follow-up. And contrary to what one might think, the consumption of two to three cups of coffee per day was associated with lower likelihood of dying compared to no coffee.
“Clinicians are generally apprehensive about people with known cardiovascular disease or arrhythmia continuing to drink coffee, so they often exercise caution and advise them to stop drinking it altogether out of fear. that it does not trigger dangerous heart rhythms“, explains Professor Kistler.
The Proven Benefits of Coffee Beans
In a third and final study, the researchers wanted to examine the differences in the relationship between coffee and cardiovascular disease, depending on the form of coffee one drank: instant or ground, caffeinated or decaffeinated. In fact, coffee beans contain more than 100 biologically active compounds: they can help reduce oxidative stress and inflammationimprove insulin sensitivity, stimulate metabolism or even block receptors known to be involved in abnormal heart rhythms, explains the researcher.
According to the study, lower death rates were observed for all types of coffee. Decaffeinated coffee did not show favorable effects against incident arrhythmia but significantly reduced cardiovascular disease. Nevertheless, decaffeinated seems preferable in all areas, and favoring it rather than a caffeinated coffee would have no interest, concludes the researcher.
Sources:
- Good news for coffee lovers: daily coffee may benefit the heartAmerican College of Cardiology, March 24, 2022
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